Since january 1st of this year, people over 65 years old had a fall in Europe, sometimes with serious consequences.
Since january 1st of this year, people over 65 years old had a fall in Europe, sometimes with serious consequences.
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- With the passing years, muscles, like other body organs, change: muscle fibres reduce in number and volume. Sarcopenia is the medical term to describe this loss of muscle mass. It can affect 20% to 40% of muscle mass. Muscular tissue is replaced by adipose tissue, which leads to an increase in the fat mass. Sarcopenia is responsible for a reduction in muscle strength and therefore physical activity. This reduction in muscle mass is most important for pelvic muscles and those of lower limbs. This favours the bad stabilisation of joints, notably those of knees or between each vertebra.
- The skeleton and joints are affected: Here again, ageing leads to fragility in bone and joints tissues:
All through our life, our bone tissue wears away and is synthesised by a balanced and dynamic system. This constant restructuring enables bone tissue to keep its biomechanical properties. Through a normal ageing process, the proliferation capacities of the bone are reduced: the quantity of formed bone then becomes lower than that of resorbed bone, which leads to a loss of bone tissue and increased bone fragility. This system is intensified by the hormonal imbalances that come with menopause: the reduction of bone density is major, and this is what is known as osteoporosis. In France, it concerns around 30 to 40% of women undergoing menopause and over half of those over 75. The main consequences are bone fractures and vertebral compression fractures, reducing motor autonomy.In the same way, ageing entails an impairment of articular cartilage: this is what is known as arthrosis. It is a source of pain but also of joint stiffness, which can impede the movement of the knees and hips.
